Cosmetics brands are harming marine life by delaying the removal of tiny pieces of plastic from their products. They are also lagging behind many supermarkets, which have removed them from their own brands. Plastic microbeads used in facial exfoliants, body scrubs and toothpastes are too small to

Homeowners face an extra bill of up to £2,500 for insulating their homes under a European ruling that forces the government to stop giving discounts on VAT for “energy-saving materials”. The ruling means that homeowners will have to pay VAT at the standard rate of 20 per cent rather than the

A coffee shop chain is preparing to reverse its decision to stop using milk from areas where badgers are culled after being accused of “cowardice” for giving in to threats. Caffè Nero may delay announcing its change of position until after an “anti-austerity” march in central London on June 20. It

Building companies are “hoarding” sites for 300,000 homes and delaying the completion of estates to keep prices high, a report by the Campaign to Protect Rural England suggests. The report says the companies claim to be concerned about the shortage of new homes but they are “drip feeding” the

Liberating goldfish from their bowl and placing them in a garden pond seems merciful but will upset frogs, according to a study. Goldfish prey on tadpoles and small frogs and their sudden arrival in a pond could cause the amphibians such stress that their immune systems weaken and they become more

Supermarkets are to give their unsold food to charity in a scheme to reduce the thousands of tonnes wasted by retailers each week. Store managers will use a new app that will allow them to alert local charities, via a text message, to the amount and type of surplus food available at the end of

The flash of vivid blue and orange as a kingfisher dives for its prey is an increasingly rare sight, according to a scientific assessment that rates the bird as vulnerable across Europe for the first time. Fewer than 5,000 pairs of kingfishers remain on Britain’s rivers, lakes and canals and the

Nine pilot whales have died and a rescue team was battling to save several more after a mass stranding on the shoreline of the Isle of Skye. A pod of long-finned pilot whales was believed to have become stranded on Monday after remaining with a female that had got into difficulties while calving.

Even the world’s most powerful man hangs on every word spoken by Sir David Attenborough. The veteran broadcaster told yesterday how he was “astonished” to receive an invitation out of the blue last month to visit Barack Obama at the White House. He was sent a ticket to Washington and, after being

Climate change has achieved what Bob Geldof and Live Aid failed to do by ending the drought in the Sahel region of Africa that killed more than 100,000 people in the 1980s, a study has found. Rising greenhouse gases caused rains to return to the region south of the Sahara, from Senegal to Sudan